And john s



(NoMdel.)

Gr. W. STREET 8v J. S. WATTERS.

BBDGLOTHING CLAMP FOR BEDS. No. 352,497.` Patented Nov. 9, 1886.

UNITED! STATESA PATENT Orricn.

GEORGE W. STREET, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND JOHN S. VATTERS, OF

BALTIMORE,

MARYL AND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,497, dated November9, 1886.

Application filed January 1l, 1886. Serial No. 188,229.

To all whom it 11i/tty concern,.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. STREET, of Chicago, county of Cook, andState of Illinois, and JOHN S. VATTERS, of Baltimore, in the State ofMaryland, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements inBedclothing-Clamps for Beds and. we do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and tothe letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved clamping device to be applied to asuitably-located framepiece upon a bedstead for the purpose of holdingor securing in place the marginal parts of the bedclothing.

The invention consists in the mattershere- .inafter described, andpointed out in the appended claims.

The main features of the device herein shown as embodying our inventionconsist of a series of clamps, each comprising a stationary clamp-jawattached to one ofthe framepieces of a woven-wire mattress, and aniovablejaw pivotally connected with the stationary jaw the severalmovable jaws being connected by a single rotating bar or rockshaft,whereby all of the jaws may be actuated at once in opening and closingthem. Suitable means are provided, in connection with the shaft, foractuating the latterin opening and closing the jaws, as fullyhereinafter set forth.

The invention may be more readily linderstood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a side or exteriorelevation of the frame of a woven-wire mattress provided with a seriesof clamps, and a rock-shaft for actuating the clamps, constructed inaccordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of thesame, taken upon line .fr x of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation ofthe ratchet-wheel upon the end of the roclrshaft for holding the jawsclosed, shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one ofthe clamps shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a clampillustrating another means for holding the movable clamp-jaw in itsclosed position.

In the said drawings, A indicates the framepiece to which the clampingdevices are at- (No model.)

tached, said frame-piece inthe particular construction illustrated beingthe end or footcrossbar of the frame of a wovenwire mattress.

B indicates, as a whole, the clamps, each of which consists ofastationary j aw, B', attached to the frame-piece A, and a movable jaw,B2, which is pivotally connected withthe stationary jaw, said jaws beingarranged with their free ends upward and in convenient position toengage the marginal parts of the bedclothtress, D, which rests upon thewoven-wire fabric A', attached to the frame-piece A.

The clamp-jawsB B2 are preferably curved outwardly or spread apart fromeach other in which form the clamps proper, so'as to afford free or openspaces to receive the marginal part-s of the bedclothing which may bedrawn downwardly into the clamps. The stationary jaw B' is preferablysecured to the frame-piece A by means of a plate or flange, B3, thereon,extending beneath the frame-piece A, and is secured to the latter byscrews, as shown, or otherwise. Said stationary jaw also is preferablycast with bearings B* for the roclrshaft E, which is arranged to passthrough the bearings of the several clamps, and is rig- .idly connectedwith the movable jaws B2 of the latter to sustain and move the saidseveral jaws.

As a simple and cheap construction in the shaft E, said shaft is, asherein shown, made throughout its entire length, and is fitted to b ofthe movable clamp-jaws B2, suitable cylindric bearingsurfaces beingformed upon dric upon their outer surfaces and of proper size toenterthe bearings B4, and provided with square apertures, whereby theymay be slipped over the rod. Said sleeves, as shown, are provided withset-screws e, to holdI them from endwise movement AYupon the rod; butthey may be otherwise secured thereon in practice, as is foundconvenient or desirable.

One means applied to the rock-shaft E for actuating the clamp-jaws B2and holding the latter closed is shown in Figs. l and 3. Inthese gures,F indicates a ratchet-wheel secorrespondingly-shaped apertures in thehubs ing C, herein shown as extended over a mattheir portions belowtheir upper end portions y square in cross-section and of uniform sizesaid shaft by means of sleeves E', made cylin- IOO cured upon the endofthe shaft, and provided with a handle or lever, F', whereby said wheeland the shaft may be conveniently turned.

Upon the side rail, A2, of the .mattress-frame adjacent to the saidwheel is pivoted a pawl, f, which is held in engagement with the wheel Fby means of a spring, f, the teeth upon the wheel being so inclined asto allow the latter to be freely rotated in a direction to close thejaws. In the operation of this device the pawlf is released by hand fromthe ratchetwheel in opening the jaws, and the latter then turned bymeans of the handle F. until the clamp-jaws are opened sufticient toconven-` iently receive the marginal part of the bedclothing. In closingthe jaws the ratchetwheel is turned in an opposite direction until theclothing is tightly clamped, when the pawl f, by its engagement with4the ratchet-teeth, will prevent any backward movement of the movableclamp-jaws. Y.

In the particular construction illustrated in Fig. 1 the rockshaft E isshown as provided near its ends with additional bearings e,.se cured tothe ends of the rails A2 A, the said shaft being provided with sleevesE', similar .to those before described, upon its part engaged with thesaid bearings e.

For the general purposes of our invention it is not necessary that theseveral movable clamp-j aws should be connected with and actuated by asingleshaft, although this construction is, for several reasons, adesirable one, and is herein specifically claimed as a preferred way ofcarrying out our invention. It is to be understood, furthermore, thatthe movable jaws may be held in position for clamping vthe clothing byother means than the ratchet-wheel and pawl shown.-as, for instance, theconstruction shown in Fig. 5 may be used, in

which a leaf-spring, G, is attached to the` movable jaw and adapted topress at its free end against the flange Bain such manner as to normallyhold thejaws closed. In the use of a device constructed in this mannerthe several jaws may be secured to asingle shaft, so that all may beactuated together in the manner before described, in which case theshaft may have upon its end` a lever, as indicated at H, Fig. 5; orthemovable jaws may be in dependent of each other. When this latterconstruction is used, the jaws will be moved separately by the hand forthe insertion of the bedclothing between them.

Aclampor a series of clamps such as above set forth may obviously beVappliedto a suitably-located stationary part or frame-piece of thebedstead proper, as well as to the frame- `piece of a woven-wiremattress, as herein illustrated. In some instances, also, the clampswill be attached to frame-pieces ofthe mattress, which also form theframe-pieces of the bed, as is the case, for instance, in a familiarform of cot or hospital-bed, in which suitableflegs' are attacheddirectly to the frame of a wovenwith relation to the clamp when thelatter is used upon a bedstead having a foot-board. The movable j aw Bz(shown in Fig. 2) is shaped at its outer part to permit the greatestpossi'- ble movement in the upper end of saidjaw when a foot-board ispresent, the said jaw being adapted to swing outwardly until its endisbrought into contact with the foot-board, whereby the edges of thebedclothing may be readily inserted between the jaws preparatory toclosing the clamps.

It is to be understood that the appended claims cover the several partsof devices therein set forth,when said several parts or devices areconstructed in form to obtain either, any, or all of the advantages orbenefits obtained by said parts or devices in the particular formthereof herein illustrated and above described.

Te claim as our inventiont 1. The combination, with a bed-frame, of aseries of clamps comprising stationary and movable jaws, and a bar orrockshaft, E, engaging the several movable jaws for actuating thelatter, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a bed-frame, of a series of clamps comprisingstationary and movable jaws, and a rockshaft supporting the said movablejaws, the stationary jaws being provided with bearings for therock-shaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a bed-frame and a series of stationary andmovable jaws, of a rock-shaft, E, engaged with and supporting the saidmovable jaws, vand suitable bearings for the rock-shaft upon the frame,said rock- Shaft being ymade of square iron and provided with sleevesE', made cylindric upon their' holding said sleeves from end movementupon the shaft, and suitable bearings for the shaft engaging saidsleeves, substantially as de scribed.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as ourjoint invention we afixoursignatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. STREET. JOHN S. WATTERS.

Witnesses to signature of Geo. W. Street:

M. E. DAYTON',

n C. CLARENCE PooLE.

Witnesses to signature of John S. Watters:

C. E. SWEETING, B. E. THURsToN.

IIO

